Barrow forced to skip son’s funeral

GAMBIAN president-elect Adama Barrow was unable to attend the funeral of his eight-year-old son Habibu Barrow. The boy died on the way to hospital on Sunday after being bitten by a dog near the capital, Banjul.

Fearing for his safety, the Economic Community of West African States advised Barrow to remain in Senegal. He had fled to that country after incumbent president Yahiya Jammeh – whose term ends tomorrow – refused to step down after losing December’s presidential elections to Barrow.

Ecowas is considering military intervention to force Jammeh out of office after he filed an injunction aimed at preventing the president-elect’s inauguration tomorrow.

He stated on state television on Sunday that “the so-called deadline of January 19, 2017, is not cast in stone and all parties shall await the outcome of the Supreme Court”.

Jammeh, who came to power in 1994 during a military coup, also tried earlier this month to challenge the legitimacy of Barrow’s win, after Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission declared the president-elect the winner.